For the first time in its 32-year history, Atlanta-based Weather Channel has been cut off from a major cable/satellite carrier.
As of 12:01 a.m. this morning, DirecTV's 20 million subscribers were not able to watch Al Roker on "Wake Up With Al" or "Morning Rush" with Mike Bettes and Maria LaRosa.
According to Jim Cantore, the Weather Channel meteorologist in an essay Monday, DirecTV is balking at a simple penny per month increase per subscriber. Although the network won't say how much it charges to cable and satellite carriers, research firm SNL Kagan estimates it's about 13 cents a month per subscriber per month.
That extra penny means about $200,000 a month for the Weather Channel, or about $2.4 million a year.
The Weather Channel created an aggressive campaign on social media and in the press to lay out its argument that DirecTV customers would be directly harmed because the network's coverage of extreme weather saves lives. The alternative DirecTV recently added, Weather Nation, has only a small fraction of the resources of the Weather Channel, which is part of NBC Universal but is based off I-75 and I-285 near the future Braves stadium.
Here's a bit of Cantore's plea:
I am overwhelmed by the genuine outpouring of trust in our company ever since we first started talking to you about losing DIRECTV. We have seen an extraordinary and overwhelming response, with hundreds of thousands of emails, faxes, calls to DIRECTV and posts on social media. I hope you will add yours if you haven't already. You can go to www.keeptheweatherchannel.com for more information on how you can be heard by DIRECTV.
And here's what David Kinney, CEO, has to say in a statement:
At a time when DIRECTV has increased customer rates by 4 percent, they are trading safety for increased profits and replacing the experience and expertise of The Weather Channel with a cheap startup that does weather forecasting on a three-hour taped loop, has no field coverage, no weather experts -- certainly not any on par with The Weather Channel network's industry-recognized experts like tornado expert Dr. Greg Forbes and winter weather expert Tom Niziol -- and no experience in severe weather emergencies.
DirecTV released a statement from its content officer Dan York which included this argument:
Most consumers don't want to watch a weather information channel with a forecast of a 40 percent chance of reality TV. So with that in mind, we are in the process of discussing an agreement to return the network to our line-up at the right value for our customers.
DirecTV's stance is it's trying to save subscribers money as more cable and broadcast networks try to wrangle more cash from carriers just as people are beginning to "cut the cord" more frequently (or for young folks, never sign on at all.)
According to Business Insider, DirecTV wants the Weather Channel to take a 20 percent pay cut because ratings are down 20 percent since 2011, based on Nielsen stats.
With more consumers using other means to get weather (including its very successful app), the Weather Channel in recent years has set aside as much as 40 percent of its schedule to reality programming such as "Highway Thru Hell" and "Prospectors" that could just as easily air on Discovery or History. It recently revamped its imaging ("It's Amazing Out There!") and include more weather info on the screen, even during advertisements. It also hired Sam Champion from "Good Morning America."
The station has bumped off much of its reality programming this week in favor of straight ahead weather news. My Comcast schedule says the Weather Channel should be airing "Highway Thru Hell" right now at 2:33 p.m., but the network has pre-empted it for regular weather coverage.
Until this dispute, the Weather Channel had the deepest penetration of any cable network. In August, Nielsen said the network was available in nearly 100 million households and 87.5 percent of all households.
About the Author
